Third Person P.O.V : Victors and Paylor
"How come we didn't know of Herald's existence?" Johanna asked.
"Because he was exiled years ago, by Snow himself. Everyone thought he was dead, venturing the Outside alone," Paylor answered.
"Well then everyone thought wrong," Beetee huffed. " Why was he exiled again?"
Paylor's eyes darkened. "At the age of 15, he kidnapped 30 Capitol children and kept them locked up in the President's house. He would take them out one by one, and torture them in the most painful ways possible. These all he did in an underground cellar, so nobody heard the screams or saw the bodies. That was until he hung their decapitated heads on strings and showed them to his grandfather. You could imagine how shocked Snow was. Maybe, if he had killed children from the Districts, he would be forgiven. But definitely not Capitol children. Authorities sentenced him to death, but Snow couldn't bear to kill his own grandson; though he was now a sadistic, insane murderer."
"So he was exiled," Peeta muttered.
"Wh-what should we do then?" Annie whispered, her voice barely audible.
Paylor paced around the room, clearly concentrating hard. She stopped all of a sudden. "Just a quick question. Do you all still remember how to use your guns?"
Third Person P.O.V : The Games
The sound of two pairs of footsteps was all that could be heard in the stillness of the jungle. The pursuer and the pursued; Asdf and Blakers respectively.
Out of breath and sides burning, Blakers stopped and whirled around, and fired his hellfire gun. Asdf dropped down to the ground so hard, pieces of gravel stuck to his chin. He missed the fire by a mere inch.
"Man, you almost turned me into extra-fried Asdf!"
Blakers looked confused. "Your name is Asdf? "
Blakers made the mistake of letting his guard down, giving the opportunity for Asdf to fire his frost blaster. Blakers dodged at the last minute, but his two legs were frozen. As he fell to the ground, his icicled legs snapped and broke into a million pieces. Blakers didn't feel anything; he was too numb, but witnessing his legs shatter into pieces was horrifying. He snapped, and started firing his gun aimlessly. He didn't realize when Asdf crept up behind him and smashed a rock to his head, breaking his skull .
BOOM! Blakers Foster, D3 boy, eliminated.
"Frost to fire, fire to frost. I guess frost wins this fight," Asdf mumbled to himself.
Ace maintained his mind-reading ability within a five-mile radius, so as to warn him if anyone should come. He had successfully found and escaped 2 hideouts. As a result, he had a backpack full of supplies and a tomahawk. Now he had to make the decision to fight or take flight. In other words, be the hunter or the hunted.
Levina slashed her electric whip madly, trying to hit Liana. She had to win this fight to get Liana's supplies, and to avoid getting killed by her of course. But she was fast, dodging her attacks effortlessly. Her stamina wasn't as high as Levina's though. Sweat had started dripping from her forehead and she was huffing and puffing. "Once she finds an opening, I'll be dead for sure. I can't keep my guard down!" Levina thought.
Just as she thought that, Liana unexpectedly jumped over her, landing on her shoulders. Being strong girl, she could easily bear the Liana's weight. Liana extracted her claws, about to rip Levina's heart out. In a split second, Levina coiled her whip around Liana, and was about to charge it with electricity when-
"Stop! Stop. Listen, I have my claws ready to rip out your heart, and you're ready to electrocute me. Charge your whip with electricity if you must, but be warned. I am no longer a human, which means I won't trash around convulsing when electrocuted. I have around 10 seconds before I die, and in that 10 seconds, I swear I will tear your heart out and crush it in my palms," Liana panted, quite out of breath.
Levina knew from the tone of her voice that she was not lying. "So what do you intend to do?"
"Be my temporary ally. That, or we can proceed to killing each other. I, for one, prefer the former."
"The girls are nowhere to be found. Just how vast is this arena?" Rey sighed, using a dagger to clean his nails.
As always, Drake didn't answer. Rey seemed to recall him being one of the noisiest tribute. Something happened during the Injections, which left him in this condition. Another thing. His velvet thread, his silent breaths, his overall noiselessness, was unearthing.
"I'm going to scout around the place for a while. Stay here and wait for me. If I'm not back in 30, then I'm in trouble or dead. I, uh, will appreciate it if you come and rescue me," Rey grinned sheepishly.
Drake nodded.
5 minutes after Rey went off, Drake heard footsteps. "Back already?" Drake wondered.
"No. Rey's footsteps sound different; heavier. This one belongs to a girl. Not Fawn or Savannah. It's an enemy!"
Drake climbed up a tree, getting ready to ambush whoever was coming. It turned out to be Nessie Swan. She must have been quite worn out, staggering forward. Deeming herself too tired to continue further, she sat down on a rock right below the tree Drake was in to take a breather. She opened her backpack, and pulled out a container full of water and started sipping.
"Now!"
Drake jumped down, striking Nessie's head before landing ever so quietly. The blow wasn't strong enough to knock her out though. Dazed, she tried standing up, only to be punched by Drake once more. . He wasn't enjoying the work at all. He hated harming girls, no matter how annoying they are. Drake picked up a rock the size of a dictionary and was about to land the finishing blow when suddenly, he found himself surrounded in a wall of fire.
"What the?! How?!"
The heat was so intense that Drake was surprised he wasn't scorched or worse, burnt to crisp yet. He could see Nessie sorting out her backpack quickly. In his anger, Drake accidentally touched the flames. Reflex caused him to jerk his hand away. He expected his fingers to be black as charcoal, but was surprised to see that they were fine. No angry red blisters or burns. Gingerly, he extended his right arm and inserted his hand into the fire. Again, nothing.
"It's just an illusion!"
Drake then jumped out and started running in pursuit of Nessie. She had a few minutes head start, a major disadvantage to Drake. But Drake was a fast sprinter, and the blows to her head must have disoriented her. It wasn't long before he caught up to her and slammed her down. Nessie screamed as Drake brought the rock down onto her head.
BOOM! Nessie Swan, D13 girl, eliminated.
When Drake went back to the designated place, Rey was already there. And he was quite furious. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me here?"
Drake felt no need to explain himself (not that he could anyway), so he just plopped down, opened a can of cold pasta and started eating.
Meanwhile, trouble was brewing in the hunter pack. Lance and Alicia were hurling insults at each other. What caused the fight was unclear, but both were pissed at the other. Pretty soon, the fight turned physical.
"Should we, you know, do anything about this?" Meteor asked.
Giving a small smile, Maver replied, "Yeah. Later. For now, let's enjoy the free show."
Alicia had somehow managed to give Lance a nosebleed. Lance kicked her in return and sent her flying to a nearby tree. Furious, Alicia grabbed her throwing knives and was about to throw them when a hand grabbed her arm.
"Whoa! Easy! Relax!" Meteor cried out. He got a ferocious snarl in return. Maver had Lance pinned to the ground.
"Why don't you two blow off some steam?"
"Good idea. In fact, let's all split up and scout around. Hunt while we're at it," Meteor suggested.
"Yeah, that's fine. As long as I won't have to see his face," Alicia hissed.
"What time do we get back? And dude, will you please get off me?" Lance grunted.
"As long as you want. We'll be camping here for two more nights." Maver said. "Why don't we have a competition then? See who killed the most tributes."
"What's in it for us?" Alicia questioned.
" Isn't satisfying your thirst for blood enough?" Meteor chuckled.
"Very well then. It's on. I'll take North." Alicia grinned.
"South!" Lance called out. "It's the farthest away from her."
"I'll take East," Maver whispered.
"Then West it is for me." Meteor nodded.
"Shh! Do you hear that?" Liana whispered to Levina, signaling her to crouch down.
"No, what?" said Levina, a little too loudly.
"Keep your volume down! Footsteps. And breathing. There's someone in front of us."
"Who is it?"
Liana sniffed. "It's definitely a boy. He's either from District 2 or 7. They smell the same, it's hard to tell them apart."
"You know, you should stop smelling people. And, let's hide somewhere and ambush him."
"You asked me who it was!" Liana expostulated. "By the way, are you able to kill him right away with your whip?"
Levina shook her head. "After a fight, when my stamina is low, it usually takes about 3-4 lashes."
"Alright then. Hide behind a tree, and I'll climb one opposite yours. Once I give you the signal, lash out your whip and electrocute him. I'll jump down then, and cut his throat with my daggers."
"Just be careful not to get electrocuted."
The boy turned out to be Lance, who was muttering to himself. A wicked-looking sword was strapped to his waist.
5 more steps, 3 steps, 1 step. Liana signaled Levina to lash out her whip. Electrocuted, Lance's body convulsed on the ground. Liana jumped down to land the finishing blow. But Lance was stronger than expected, and he wasn't too happy at the thought of being killed by girls. He sent Liana crashing into the tree she was on.
"Lev! Lash out again!" Liana screamed.
Lance might be strong, but he was slow. It was hard for him to dodge the whip. Taking advantage of his current vulnerable state, Liana climbed up the tree and hung upside-down with her legs from one of the low branches. "Lev!" she cried out. "To me!"
Nodding to show that she understood, Levina began directing Lance towards Liana. "Quick! The branch is breaking!"
After a few more lashes, Lance was finally close enough for Liana to cut his throat.
BOOM! Lance Maelstorm, D2 boy, eliminated.
The two girls plopped down on the ground, exhausted. "We make a pretty good team, eh?" asked Levina.
"Uhuh," Liana hummed.
"I'll take that as a yes."
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